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A huge number of native English speakers make frequent English slip-ups that bring on the wrath of the UK’s army of grammar pedants, and it’s mainly because they weren’t taught properly at school. But for you, help is at hand. So that you can learn the rules from the word go, we’ve put together this guide to some of the most common mistakes people make when writing in English. Learn them all, and you’ll get your knowledge of English off to a better start than most Brits! Even if you’re a native speaker, you may find some useful advice here to make your use of English the best it can be.

1. Misplaced apostrophes

Apostrophes aren’t difficult to use once you know how, but putting them in the wrong place is one of the most common grammar mistakes in the English language. Many people use an apostrophe to form the plural of a word, particularly if the word in question ends in a vowel, which might make the word look strange with an S added to make it plural.

The rules:

To indicate something belonging to one person, the apostrophe goes before the ‘s’. For instance, “The girl’s horse.”

To indicate something belonging to more than one person, put the apostrophe after the ‘s’. For example, “The girls’ horse.”

Apostrophes are also used to indicate a contracted word. For example, “don’t” uses an apostrophe to indicate that the word is missing the “o” from “do not”.

Apostrophes are never used to make a word plural, even when a word is in number form, as in a date.

How not to do it:

The horse’s are in the field

Pen’s for sale

In the 1980’s

Janes horse is over there

The girls dresses are ready for them to collect

How to do it properly:

The horses are in the field

Pens for sale

In the 1980s

We didn’t want to do it

Jane’s horse is over there

The girls’ dresses are ready for them to collect

2. Your/you’re

We covered this one before in our post on homophones, but it’s such a widespread problem that there’s no harm in covering it again.

The rules:

“Your” indicates possession – something belonging to you.

“You’re” is short for “you are”.

How not to do it:

Your beautiful

Do you know when your coming over?

Can I have one of you’re biscuits?

How to do it properly:

You’re beautiful

Do you know when you’re coming over?

Can I have one of your biscuits?

3. Its/it’s

We said earlier that apostrophes should be used to indicate possession, but there is one exception to this rule, and that is the word “it”. Unsurprisingly, this exception gets lots of people confused.

The rules:

“It’s” is only ever used when short for “it is”.

“Its” indicates something belonging to something that isn’t masculine or feminine (like “his” and “hers”, but used when you’re not talking about a person).

If it helps, remember that inanimate objects can’t really possess something in the way a human can.

How not to do it:

Its snowing outside

The sofa looks great with it’s new cover

How to do it properly:

It’s snowing outside

The sofa looks great with its new cover

4. “Could/would/should of”

This common mistake arises because the contracted form of “could have” – “could’ve” – sounds a bit like “could of” when you say it out loud. This mistake is made frequently across all three of these words.

The rules:

When people write “should of”, what they really mean is “should have”.

Written down, the shortened version of “should have” is “should’ve”.

“Should’ve” and “Should have” are both correct; the latter is more formal.

How not to do it:

We could of gone there today

I would of done it sooner

You should of said

How to do it properly:

We could’ve gone there today

I would have done it sooner

You should’ve said

5. There/their/they’re

We’ve met this one before, too; it’s another example of those pesky homophones – words that sound the same but have different meanings.

The rules:

Use “there” to refer to a place that isn’t here – “over there”.

We also use “there” to state something – “There are no cakes left.”

“Their” indicates possession – something belonging to them.

“They’re” is short for “they are”.

How not to do it:

Their going to be here soon

We should contact they’re agent

Can we use there boat?

Their is an argument that says

How to do it properly:

They’re going to be here soon

We should contact their agent

Can we use their boat?

There is an argument that says

6. Fewer/less

The fact that many people don’t know the difference between “fewer” and “less” is reflected in the number of supermarket checkout aisles designated for “10 items or less”. The mistake most people make is using “less” when they actually mean “fewer”, rather than the other way round.

The rules:

“Fewer” refers to items you can count individually.

“Less” refers to a commodity, such as sand or water, that you can’t count individually.

How not to do it:

There are less cakes now

Ten items or less

How to do it properly:

There are fewer cakes now

Ten items or fewer

Less sand

Fewer grains of sand

7. Amount/number

These two work in the same way as “less” and “fewer”, referring respectively to commodities and individual items.

The rules:

“Amount” refers to a commodity, which can’t be counted (for instance water).

“Number” refers to individual things that can be counted (for example birds).

How not to do it:

A greater amount of people are eating more healthily

How to do it properly:

A greater number of people are eating more healthily

The rain dumped a larger amount of water on the country than is average for the month

8. To/two/too

It’s time to revisit another common grammar mistake that we also covered in our homophones post, as no article on grammar gripes would be complete without it. It’s easy to see why people get this one wrong, but there’s no reason why you should.

The rules:

“To” is used in the infinitive form of a verb – “to talk”.

“To” is also used to mean “towards”.

“Too” means “also” or “as well”.

“Two” refers to the number 2.

How not to do it:

I’m to hot

It’s time two go

I’m going too town

He bought to cakes

How to do it properly:

I’m too hot

It’s time to go

I’m going to town

He bought two cakes

9. Then/than

Confusion between “then” and “than” probably arises because the two look and sound similar.

The rules:

“Than” is used in comparisons.

“Then” is used to indicate something following something else in time, as in step-by-step instructions, or planning a schedule (“we’ll go there then there”).

How not to do it:

She was better at it then him

It was more then enough

How to do it properly:

She was better at it than him

It was more than enough

We’ll go to the baker first, then the coffee shop

10. Me/myself/I

The matter of how to refer to oneself causes all manner of conundrums, particularly when referring to another person in the same sentence. Here’s how to remember whether to use “me”, “myself” or “I”.

The rules:

When referring to yourself and someone else, put their name first in the sentence.

Choose “me” or “I” by removing their name and seeing which sounds right.

For example, with the sentence “John and I are off to the circus”, you wouldn’t say “me is off to the circus” if it was just you; you’d say “I am off to the circus”. Therefore when talking about going with someone else, you say “John and I”.

You only use “myself” if you’ve already used “I”, making you the subject of the sentence.

How not to do it:

Me and John are off to the circus

Myself and John are going into town

Give it to John and I to look after

How to do it properly:

John and I are off to the circus

John and I are going into town

Give it to John and me to look after

I’ll deal with it myself I thought to myself

11. Invite/invitation

This mistake is now so common that it’s almost accepted as an alternative, but if you really want to speak English properly, you should avoid it.

The rules:

“Invite” is a verb – “to invite”. It refers to asking someone if they’d like to do something or go somewhere.

“Invitation” is a noun – “an invitation”. It refers to the actual message asking someone if they’d like to do something or go somewhere.

How not to do it:

I haven’t responded to her invite yet.

She sent me an invite.

How to do it properly:

I haven’t responded to her invitation yet.

She sent me an invitation.

I’m going to invite her to join us.

12. Who/whom

Another conundrum arising from confusion over how to refer to people. There are lots in the English language!

The rules:

“Who” refers to the subject of a sentence; “whom” refers to the object.

“Who” and “whom” work in the same way as “he” or “him”. You can work out which you should use by asking yourself the following:

“Who did this? He did” – so “who” is correct. “Whom should I invite? Invite him” – so “whom” is correct.

“That” is often used incorrectly in place of “who” or “whom”. When referring to a person, you should not use the word “that”.

How not to do it:

Who shall I invite?

Whom is responsible?

He was the only person that wanted to come

How to do it properly:

Whom shall I invite?

Who is responsible?

He was the only person who wanted to come

13. Affect/effect

It’s an easy enough mistake to make given how similar these two words look and sound, but there’s a simple explanation to help you remember the difference.

The rules:

Affect is a verb – “to affect” – meaning to influence or have an impact on something.

Effect is the noun – “a positive effect” – referring to the result of being affected by something.

There is also a verb “to effect”, meaning to bring something about – “to effect a change”. However, this is not very commonly used, so we’ve left it out of the examples below to avoid confusion.

How not to do it:

He waited for the medicine to have an affect

They were directly effected by the flooding

How to do it properly:

He waited for the medicine to have an effect

They were directly affected by the flooding

14. I.e. and e.g.

These two abbreviations are commonly confused, and many people use them interchangeably. However, their uses are very different.

The rules:

I.e. means “that is” or “in other words”. It comes from the Latin words “id est”.

Only use “i.e.” and “e.g.” when writing informally. In formal documents, such as essays, it is better to write out the meanings (“for example” or “that is”).

How not to do it:

He liked many different cheeses, i.e. cheddar, camembert and brie.

He objects to the changes – e.g. he won’t be accepting them.

How to do it properly:

He liked many different cheeses, e.g. cheddar, camembert and brie.

He objects to the changes – i.e. he won’t be accepting them.

We hope you’ve found this a useful reference guide as you continue your journey to become fluent in English. If you’d like to learn even more about the ins and outs of English grammar, why not enrol on one of our English as a Foreign Language (EFL) courses this summer?

Chris

shweta

June 14, 2016 at 8:26 am

> It is my impression that such as bullet points and chat entries doesn’t really require full stops.
Grammar is here to make our written languages better, not strict!
Actually, whenever you’re penning down full sentences followed by proper punctuation; then the use of a full-stop at the end would cause no harm. Despite all odds, a full-stop at the end of a bullet will add to its overall clarity.
please tell me if I am wrong

khursheed Ahmad Wagay

Dave

November 7, 2015 at 3:36 pm

Have the rules changed regarding verb conjugation with singular nouns that represent more than one item, being or person?

I was taught that the words “team” “flock”
“group” “board” “corp” etc are singular, and that the verb must always agree with that state. I hear so often (primarily by British speakers – the group which accuses Americans of slaughtering the language) sentences like “The team are on the field”.

Even in the case of a phrase like “the team of players…”, I was taught that the prep phrase used must be ignored and “is” must still be used.

Isn’t one of the purposes of conjugating verbs to indicate singular or plural subjects? Why would “The team are on the field” not call for a different form of the present continuous verb than “The teams are on the field”?

Sanjeeth Rodrigues

December 1, 2015 at 2:48 am

> Dave, there are words like team, hair and the like that we have learnt are collective nouns and hence take the form of singular verbs such as is, has and so on. But the rule states that if your using a collective noun with special emphasis on the constituents of that noun then it’s taking the plural form and hence no longer is a collective noun in that context. E.g. For the first instance is ‘Can you please brush my hair?’ But if your emphasising on each hair then ‘I lost at least three hairs'(though you can say strands of hair). Likewise when you’re considering a team to be one unit you can say ‘The team needs just one point to win’. But if your emphasising on each player then ‘The team are ready to do whatever it takes to score that one point’. Yes, even I realised it’s correct lately.

AY

February 14, 2017 at 5:48 pm

> First, please review item #2 regarding your/you’re. Second, it appears that you are British or related, based on your use of “s” where American English would use a “z.”

British English has different rules. For American English, companies and teams are ALWAYS singular. Even if it’s implied that you’re speaking about the individuals within that company or team, the subject is still singular. ALWAYS.

Ford is launching a new F150. Ford wants better healthcare. Ford is happy about quarterly earnings. In the game tonight, Chicago is expected to play with reckless abandon. And, so on. Never are these subjects plural in American English.

harshi

Scott

May 27, 2015 at 8:16 pm

“She was better at it than him” is incorrect grammar. It should be “She was better at it than he” or “She was better at it than he was.” Subject pronouns are required in this construction, not one subject pronoun and one object pronoun.

Robin Bather

June 21, 2015 at 9:55 pm

Good afternoon
I enjoyed your website and found it very interesting; however, I would ask you to please not use the word Huge.
Overuse of ths word has become tedious and indicative of a lack of imagination. It is a tiring Americanism.
Whatever happened to big, collosal, enormous, massive, etc. ?
Best regards

ORA Admin

June 22, 2015 at 10:05 am

Dear Robin,

Thank you for your comment. We’ll try to avoid overusing the word huge. However, it’s definitely not an Americanism. It came into English in the Middle Ages, from Old French, and appears in well-known Middle English texts including Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Piers Plowman and Gower’s Confessio Amantis. The Oxford English Dictionary’s first citation for it is from 1275.

Norman

Adam

October 6, 2015 at 12:13 am

I’m surprised nobody has picked up on this yet. You’ve said “Too” means “also” or “as well” in point 8 but the example “I’m too hot” doesn’t use the definition in this way. You’d have been better off writing “I’m hot too” to demonstrate this, although it is probably worth explaining the use of “too” to mean “beyond tolerable” in this case.

Edward Labor

Kien

November 2, 2015 at 10:54 am

One of the most annoying mistakes is when people use ‘I’ instead of ‘me’, trying to sound very cultured.
For example: ‘They told Kanye and I that our house would be ready in eight months.’ ‘This relationship has been very hard for Scott an I.’

Dave

November 7, 2015 at 3:09 pm

I couldn’t agree more Kien. I’d rather hear fingernails grating across a blackboard than ‘I’ instead of ‘me’. “Trying to sound very cultured” – or better educated.

Have you noticed we hear it so often that it’s gotten to the point where some who know which is correct will use “myself” instead of “me”. Of course, that’s equally incorrect, but I suppose they know (yeah, yeah, yeah…he/she knows) it won’t sound wrong to the “better educated” or “more cultured” who think “me” would be wrong.

Ree

November 8, 2015 at 1:22 am

I found this website very interesting.
I was looking up a clear explanation for why “Pass me them books.” is wrong. Maybe you could include them vs these/those.
What do you think of a classroom teacher with a degree in English giving her class a spelling list to learn which included the word ginormous “? Am I too old fashioned?

Dave

November 11, 2015 at 3:23 am

> Ree,

Regarding an English teacher including the word “ginormous” in a spelling list – Believe it or not, that word appears in Webster’s dictionary. Worse than that, that same publication lists “humongous” as a synonym/definition! Honest.
…. reminds me of the Doobie Brothers’ line “What were once vices are now habits.”

“Pass me them books.”? I think “Pass me them” would be OK, but you cannot use “them” as an adjective (them books).
Usually “them” refers to people or persons, as a personal pronoun, but what of this: “Do you sell eggs? [yes] “Then please give me two of them.” I think that’s OK if for some reason one doesn’t think “Then please give me two.” isn’t sufficient, but it’s been decades since college for me. Anyone?

mirembe amie

Paul Mumford

January 15, 2016 at 1:06 am

You write:

For example, with the sentence “John and I are off to the circus”, you wouldn’t say “me is off to the circus” if it was just you; you’d say “I am off to the circus”. Therefore when talking about going with someone else, you say “John and I”.

There is a grammatical error in that sentence! It should read, ‘if it WERE you’.

M’bayoh Loven Foday

ORA Admin

April 8, 2016 at 11:14 am

Dear M’bayoh,
Thank you for getting in touch! As with the distinction in point number 10, “I” is used when the first person is the subject of the sentence, and “me” when the object. “Too” is then added in when required, and both often require a comma. See below:

Aba Gino

Esha

Nicole Sarmiento

Muktarcali

July 11, 2016 at 5:25 pm

This is actually great work u have selected the most confusing and chaotic part in English language I couldn’t differentiate between effect and affect before visiting ure site but now I am good to go. I really appreciate u that.

Dunamyte

July 18, 2016 at 8:49 pm

Am terribly confused here. I don’t understand why amount is used for only commodities. I need the correct sentence to this… ‘i want two amount of soaps’ and ‘i want two number of soaps’ . Can u help me figure it out?

NTC English

Lorenda Beumont

August 12, 2016 at 8:04 am

There’s more …
I don’t know how the expression “I’ll revert to you later” EVER became acceptable English. Ice reverts to water people CANNOT revert to other people. Quite possibly, a few years ago, a non-English speaker (from China or India, or who knows where) was translating his/her own language directly into English by way of using the dictionary, and chose the incorrect word. That is almost an acceptable error. However, it is unacceptable that ENGLISH-speakers the world over (in English-speaking countries!) have adopted that expression, thinking it is quite smart to use it!! No, it’s just wrong!! It is impossible for anyone to revert to anyone else, ever.

Also, the latest, “craze” of starting sentences with “So” – ah, so annoying.

Then there is the habit that so many have of using many words instead of one – “at this moment in time” instead of “Now”, “Currently” or, if there is an obsessive need to use more than one word, then “at the moment” will do.

ORA Admin

August 16, 2016 at 9:36 am

Hi Asad,

Thank you for getting in touch. The difference between these two phrases is very slight, and in many instances, either would be correct.

In general, taking ‘the’ train refers to the broader method of transport that someone will be using (example: “How will you be getting there?” “I will be taking the train”) and taking ‘a’ train might be used to refer to a specific train that you have bought a ticket for (example: “I am catching a train at 2 o’clock”). However, in this second example, to say “I am catching the train at 2 o’clock” would also be correct to English speakers. When in doubt, in the majority of cases using the phrase taking ‘the’ train would be correct.

Shellie

Timkido Banks

pentrusaloane.ro

December 12, 2016 at 11:51 am

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I want to to thank you for ones time just for this
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new things on your site.

Don Colley

December 15, 2016 at 10:01 pm

I am appalled at the increased use by journalists and others saying “than what” i.e. the weather today is hotter than what it was yesterday. Than being a comparison and what an interrogative negative question.
Educational standards are slipping to new depths.

NDAGIJIMANA BENJAMIN

NDAGIJIMANA BENJAMIN

Victoria (Vicky) Driver

March 20, 2017 at 4:23 pm

I try not to be a grammar Nazi however there are some mistakes that really grate. One that is so common is someone saying less when they mean fewer. My clarifying definition is that less implies a comparison i.e. more or less vs. just a quantity however I may be overthinking it. You need to add continuous and continual to this list

Rwth

March 21, 2017 at 11:57 am

I love this article and will be referring back to it. I do, however, question the heading which refers to grammatical mistakes, but some of them are punctuation mistakes………maybe rename the article?? Diolch/Thank you! :)

Ash

Siege

April 17, 2017 at 2:02 pm

I love this! Really!
Well, to add to the article, there’s this particular tautology frequently used today, the “reason why”.

I learnt that it’s rather unnecessary to place both side by side in a sentence, for example “that is the reason why I’m upset” is wrong, instead, you say “that’s the reason I’m upset” or “that’s why I’m upset”

Cookie

April 19, 2017 at 10:56 am

My English teacher last year had awful grammar. The work he wrote was full of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. Instead of “students”, he wrote “student’s”. “Your” and “you’re” were mixed up, as were “their”, “they’re” and “there. There were run-in sentences, typos and spelling mistakes. Everywhere I looked, there were errors. It was as if an eight-year-old had written it. I know small children with a better grasp of the English language. I, the student, was constantly correcting my teacher’s grammar. I was a thirteen-year-old correcting the grammar and spelling of an adult man who was supposed to be teaching me. What should I do? I don’t want to hurt his feelings or come across as rude or arrogant. He is no longer teaching me as I have a new English teacher this year. Could somebody please offer me some advice?

Gina

August 15, 2017 at 8:53 pm

These aren’t typical ‘Spanish errors’ these are general errors by a lot of native and general learners of English and actually are not that common for ESL learners.
I was looking / expecting stuff along the lines of putting the definite article when it’s not needed…such as before abstract nouns – e.g. There is not enough the peace in the world”, or omitting indefinite article before other nouns – “I am teacher” instead of ‘a’ teacher, or adverb in wrong place “Always I drink tea”.
I was hoping to find other examples of common mistakes to help with something, not a disappointing copy and paste grammar moan.

full

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